Next -door Heat 2

Two

Moving to the uptown of Chicago had never really been the plan for Nico.

But just 72 hours after he moved, he was beginning to see it in a different light.

Maybe moving wasn’t so bad, after all. Probably be a fun experience.

He’d had this thought the moment he saw his next-door neighbor. The hot professor with the glaring eyes and perpetual, somehow captivating frown.

As a perpetually inquisitive person, Nico’s interest had been piqued after the good shoulder he received from the hot neighbor.

Plus, there was also the fact that he wasn’t used to being ignored or overlooked, mostly because of his looks and his career as a model.

People fawned over him, and most of the time it was overwhelming. No, all the time.

But it irked Nico that there had been zero to no reaction about his looks or whatsoever, from his new neighbor.

He’d only been given the cold shoulder. And he wasn’t used to that.

It bothered him, so he’d proceeded to find out why. A subtle excuse to talk to the man.

He’d been disappointed, to discover that the cold shoulder had been intentional. And wasn’t just a hearing problem misunderstanding.

The thoughts had kept him up all night, and now, by 4am, he was up pulling weights and press ups.

Loud music blasted through the walls, pumping his adrenaline faster and harder.

Balls of sweat rolled down the sides of his arms and face, his eyes and muscles burning.

A loud bang on his door caught his attention, rising above the din.

He pushed to his feet and walked over to the music player, turning it down a notch.

“Who’s there?” he yelled.

“Your neighbor,” a cold, menacing voice returned, and it took Nico only a moment to recognize who that voice belonged to.

He scoffed, running a hand through his hair as he strode to the door.

He pulled it open to find Theo, the rude neighbor, standing there with the perpetual frown between his eyes.

Nico coked his head to the side, his lips tilted up in a small smile. “What do you want? It’s somewhere around 4am, you know?”

“Exactly,” Theo replied in a clipped tone, his hands shoved into his pockets, “what are you doing blasting music that loud this time of the day? Did you even consider the fact that you’ve got a neighbor on the same floor as you?”

Nico heaved a sigh, dropping his shoulders. “Look—“

“Don’t tell me you’re doing this because of what happened yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because I was rude to you? If this is some sort of payback then you—“

A little thrown off guard, Nico snorted quietly. “You’ve got some humor in you, huh?”

Theo maintained a straight face. “There’s nothing funny about this.”

“Alright, whatever,” Nico replied, waving his hand. “Look, I’m genuinely sorry about the noise, but I was just working out in my apartment unit. I’m allowed to do that, I believe?”

“Really?” Theo cocked his brows. You couldn’t take your workout routine elsewhere that wasn’t your apartment unit?”

Nico sighed, leaning against the frame of his door. “Well,” he ran a hand through his hair, his arms muscles rippling with the movement, “you might not know this, but I’m pretty famous. So I tend to avoid public places.”

“I see. Well, kindly consider the fact that you have neighbors and turn down your music. Thank you.”

With that, he whirled on his heels and walked off.

Smirking, Nico slammed his door shut and started back towards the workout session.

He wondered why the man was so broody, but even more importantly, he wondered why he kept thinking about this broody neighbor next door.

Nico was sure it had to do with the man’s look. He was an eye candy with those eyes and high cheekbones, that perpetual frown wickedly attractive.

He sighed, his zest for the routine ruined and watered down.

He’d just picked up a water bottle when the beeping of the keypad interrupted his swig.

“Look who we have here,” Nico snickered as the tall, willowy blonde walked into the unit, “the runaway manager who couldn’t care less what happened to her—“

“It’s good to see you too, Nico,” Reina Williams chipped in as she dropped her bag on the couch and walked over to the small dumbbells in the corner.

“Well it’s not good to see you, Reina. You know I gotta say the truth all the time. And what are you doing at my house by 5-freaking-a.m in the morning?

She gave him a flat look, lifting the dumbbells. “Isn’t that our usual call time?”

Nico huffed in disbelief. “You disappeared on me, Reina. Not cool.”

“I told you I needed a break, Nico. We both did. And now we’re back on our feet, so we should get to work, don’t you think?”

“Great.”

“And…speaking of work, you have a shoot 7am.”

Nico paused, narrowing his eyes on her. “I’m retired, Reina. Did you forget that?”

“This is just a little gig, Nico.” Reina replied, focusing on her dumbbells she tried to lift. “Do it for me, please.”

He cursed under his breath and grabbed a towel from the equipment, walking away.

***********

The shoot was for a TV commercial that advertised organic products, and it lasted for about five-seven hours.

Nico was irritated and upset the whole time, although he tried his possible best to mask it.

At the end of the shoot, he insisted on getting home himself, and alone.

So before Reina could make her arguments, she was caught up with the crowd of Nico’s fans.

And that served as his quick escape, as he quickly jumped in his car and zoomed off.

He’d only spent about five minutes whistling to himself, driving past the gates and easing into the highway, when he spotted a familiar face on the side of the road.

Bent over a vehicle, his face drawn in taut lines.

Nico slowed his car to a crawl, peeking out the window and looking closer.

Was that not—

“Hey, Theo!”

Theo lifted his head from the car bumper and looked over to where Nico was parked, his lips drawn flat.

Something flickered in his eyes, but disappeared very quickly.

In return, he lifted his fingers and threw a small salute at Nico.

Nico scoffed as he got out of his car, slamming the door shut. “Your car break down or something?” he asked as he walked over to Theo, adjusting his jacket.

Theo nodded, focusing his attention on the problem at hand.

“Oh, well. Come on then, I’ll give you a ride.”

Theo looked up at him, squinting his eyes slightly. “Why would you do that?”

Nico was taken aback by the question. “Why? We practically live in the same apartment building and—is there even a reason why I shouldn’t offer to help you?”

Theo nodded. “Obviously. I’ve not exactly been the best neighbor, have I?”

A scoff of disbelief, then, “Who cares about that? I just don’t think it’s right to leave you out here with your problem, when I can help. I’ll give you a ride and maybe you could call a towing service to get it fixed.”

Theo stared at him for a while, his jaw tensed, then stepped back and slammed the bumper shut. “Fine.”